Faced with the prospect of having to either relocate her residence or duke it out with a sister Democrat to remain in the California Legislature, State Senator Connie Leyva has opted out of running for reelection this year.
Leyva, who was originally elected in 2014 in Senate District 20 with 62.4 percent of the vote and returned to office in 2018 with an even more impressive 69.5 percent voter support, could have sought reelection under the state’s current term limit rules that allow a state senator to serve three terms. This year’s redistricting, however, changed the boundaries of the 20th Senate District, including removing Chino, where Leyva lives, from it entirely. Instead, Chino now falls within the newly-drafted Senate District 22, which also includes Ontario, Pomona, West Covina, and Baldwin Park, the home of incumbent District 22 Senator Susan Rubio, also a Democrat.
Leyva made no mention of Rubio nor how her district had been reapportioned out from under her in announcing her departure.
“For the past seven years… I have worked on and passed groundbreaking legislation to empower survivors of rape and sexual assault, strengthen enforcement of wage theft violations, expand career technical education programs that lead to well-paying jobs, ban secret settlements in cases of workplace harassment and discrimination, increase access to safe and equitable reproductive health care, reduce truck pollution, and protect California’s environment,” she said.
”COVID-19 has allowed us to reevaluate our priorities and what truly matters in our lives,” she said. “I thank my family, friends, staff, colleagues and everyone that has supported Team Leyva through this journey.  Our work is certainly not over and I will continue delivering over the next few months on the vital legislative and constituent work that Californians have come to expect from our team.”